Method of making and preserving butter.



u. M, W. KITCHEN.

METHOD OF MAKING AND PRBSERVING BUTTER. APPLIdATION rum) AUG. 29. 1910.

1 26,918; Patented May 21, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

ttest: v l nventor a, gin, by

Atty I J. M. W. KITCHEN; METHOD OF MAKING AND PRESERVING BUTTER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 29. 1910;

1,026,91 8. Patented May 21,1912. I

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Attest: ln y entor;

Atty KrrcHuN, a citizen of the I To allwhom it may STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH MOSES WA RD KITCHEN, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

METHOD OF MAKING- AND PRESERVING BUTTER.

Be it known that I, 'JosnPH Mosns WARD United States,

residing in the city of East Orange, county of Essex, State of New Jersey, have invented an Improved Method of Making and Preserving Butter, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to be able I to supply butter to consumers in towns and cities at a considerable distance from the places of milk production and of butter .-manufacture, in the best possible condition as to quality. Milk and its contained butter fat are very perishable food products, and rapidly deteriorate in quality immediately after production, under ordinary conditions of handling. If the milk and cream from which butter is made, is properly treated, the but-ter comes from the churn delicious as to fragrance and as to flavor; but usually is considerably infected with' germs which proliferate at the temperatures, at which freshly produced milk and butter are usually kept and made; and which even at the cold temperatures maintained by icing, soon develop objectionable flavors,-which injure the fine qualities of freshly -made butter, Whether fermented or unfermented, salted or unsalted. Consumers in the cities as a rule, nevertaste a really fine quality of freshly made butter, as most of the butter sold is more or less spoiled before it reaches the a storage warehouses in the cities, or is sold to the consumer. Furthermore, after the butter reaches the consumer, it usually still more rapidly deteriorates, owing to a progressive fermentation in it, and due to the absorption of objectionable odors and flavors; and also because of infection from the atmosphere and from germ contaminated knives or other utensils used in excavating the butter from the butter package, or used cities and is in dividing the ordinary 45 sized and shaped butter print. A small amount of really'fine so-called gilt-edged butter, reaches the there sold. This quality of butter is. produced at a very high cost'in preventing infection of the milk, cream and butter at the farm, and butter factory- My method enables the butter maker to secure satisfactory results from the use of cream made from milk produced under ordinary .conditions as to cleanliness in the armers barn Where ordinary provision is made for the care of cattle and the milk fi Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 29, 1910. Serial. No. 579,538.

Patented May 21, 1912.

terioration .in quality has occurred. So far .as the extent of infection of the butter made by the two processes is concerned, at the time of the consumption of the butter there is no material difference. In the case of the high cost butter, germinal proliferation occurs after the making of the butter. In my method I prevent fermentation immediately after the making ofthe butter.

The methods I apply in this invention to secure the aimed for results, are to cool the cream, which should be separated from the milk immediately after it is drawn from the cow, to a temperature that will prevent objectionable fermentation in the milk prior to .its churning. In practice it has been found that the separated cream may be' kept at a temperature of about 60 'F. prior to its churning, if the cream is collected and churned at least every forty-eight hours. Then I refrigerate the butter immediately after it is made to so low a temperature that undesired bacterial proliferationin the butter is immediately revented. I prefer mechanically produced refrigeration in carrying out my method, inasmuch as the preferred temperature can be more conveniently and economically produced than through chemical refrigeration. Furthermore, I have so far, found it impractical to secure a sufliciently low temperature 'with salt and ice mixtures. But nrechanical refrigeration is conveniently effected by means of the coaction of a gasolene engine, ammonia compressor and a special arrangement of brine tanks. In some cases, as-in small individual .dairies,on account of the cost of mechanical refrigerating apparatus, chilling the newly made butter by the use of a salt and ice mixture may be practiced, especially when the butter is marketed in a closely adjacent community; but mechanical refrigeration is to be preferred. Preferably, the cream should be immediately chilled after a. mechanical separation from the milk, the separation being efl'ected while the milk retains its animal heat; and then the cream should beheld at or near to a non-fermentative temperature until transported to the place ofits manufacture into butter, after which the cream can be then fermented under adechanges in it until favorable opportunities for its selling and consumption occur. The temperature most favorable is from 6 F. to zero; but I also usually chill the butter so much as to maintain a sufficiently low temperature in the butter during the shipment of the butter, when more or .less absorption of heat by the butter occurs. I do not limit myself to this particular temperature. There is no data in existence which indicates the special temperature required under vari-' ous conditions to bring the fermentativev process to a standstill. It is obvious that the depth of temperature requiredwould vary according to. a number of conditions, including the fermentative changes that have occurred in the cream before and dur-' ing its churning, and while the butter is being made. As a matter of precaution, I refrigerate the butter to a temperature many degrees below that secured by icing. The temperatures secured from icing do not prevent more or less objectionable fermen tative changes in the butter. As I usually not only refrigerate sufliciently to prevent fermentation, but, also make the butter sufliciently cold to prevent any fermentation during its conveyance to market, or to, the large storage Warehouses of the cities, which for commercial convenience must be located close to the points of distribution; and as the distance from the point of production to the point of consumption, may

vary widely, it will be .obvious that the temperature required will'vary according to the season, outward atmospheric conditions and the heat to be met in the car or other vehicle in which the butter is conveyed to market. I find for practical purposes, mechanical refrigerationis almost universally essential t my method.

When the butter is to be stored for a considerable time, it 'is usually shipped in packages weighing ten pounds and over; but where the butter is to be immediately consumed, it is made into prints of a form in which each print as ordlnarily made, is sub divided into thin slabs and rints of a thickness and size suitable for individual use at the-table, each slab being impressed on its surface with recesses which indicate and partly divide the slabs into ordinary size butter patties, the face of each patty bearing some characteristic imprint, and usually a recessed imprint, which form allows of more p ss in the method of. packing I that I use to prevent infection ofthe butter.

This method is as follows: Each slab is wrapped in parafiin paper and a plurality of the thin and partly divided wrapped slabs are packed in a paraffin coated pasteboard,

The butter before being finally subjected to a very low degree to or near to zero, and

carton. packed, is of cold', usually always very considerably below'. 32 -F.-,' which. low temperature is usually secured through mechanical refrigeration. The caretons are packed in considerable numbers to secure a very low degree of refrigerationin the package in which the butter is shipped to market. These ackages-are specially'insulated; and pre erence -is given to com-.

pressed sheets of cork as an insulating material for the packing cases. The consignee holds the butter in low refrigeration, andafter its distribution to the consumer, the individual cartons are kept in the 'con sumers refrigerator, and the individual enwrapped slabs are only removedfrom'the carton as needed for table use. In this;

method it will be seen that. the butter is not touched by hand or infected utensil, nor is exposed to atmospheric infection from the timevit leaves the manufacturer untilits consumgtion at the table, is immediately assure Inasmuch as the butter after churning'is' immediately subjected to so low a degree of refrigeration as .to prevent substantially all fermentation in it, this method enables the farmer to make much of his butter on cheap spring and summer pasture feeds, and yet allows the butter to be held in good condition for favorable prices at those seasons of the year when more expensive feeds would have to be fed to the cows in order to secure a large product at those seasons. In particular cases where the its manufacture is to'be conveyed unusually long distances, and where its consumption is unusually delayed, I pasteurize the milk or cream, and ferment the cream with a s cial culture starter before churning. But i possible, I prefer to churn unpasteurized cream ripened in the ordinary manner, as. in. this 'case it is more convenient for the farmer to hold the cream, and costs the butter-maker less to collect and transport the cream from the farm to the butter factory because of less frequent collections of the cream being required. Unpasteurized cream produces a butter that is usually preferred by consumers. If pasteurization is, practiced, the cream must be kept sweet or nearly so, at its place ofproduction, and'must be more frequently collected. In case the plan of refrigerating the cream is adopted, some simple method of cooling the cream is adopted, as by ordinary icing or through the use of a large amount of cold water.

butter after I lit It is common to r efrigerate butter in storage at low temperatures, but only after more or less deterioration from objectionable fermentation has occurred, and after transportation to or close to the place of its distribution and consumption.

My method is to immediately after separation of the cream and after churning the cream, and While the product is still in finest condition, to immediately refrigerate the butter to the low temperature that will prevent the deterioration. I again repeat, that a temperature that can be secured by the ordinary methods of icing, is not low enough D and a hot water pipe'F".

.slab wrapped in paraffin paper.

0 is a butter worker,

E is a door, D is to be sufficiently effective.

In thedrawings: Figure 1 represents diagrammatically in elevation, and partly in section, the principal elements in a dairy house.

scale in elevation, and partly in section, a pasteurizing device. Fig. 3 represents a thin printed slab of butter. Fig. 4 represents an individual butter patty. Fig. 5 represents a thin butter Fig. 6 reppackage of four separately resents a pound Flgu 7 represents wrapped butter; slabs. partly in section, a lever butter printer. Fig. 8 represents an-insulated butter carrier.

A- is a churn, B is a power shaft which may be actuated by any convenient source of power.

B is a pulley which actuates the churn, D is a compressor for the mechanical compression of ammonia gas, D is a pulley actuating the compressor D which is driven by the shaft B and the pulley B E is an insulated refrigerator, E are cold brine tanks, E is an insulating casing, E are packages of butter under refrigeration, a valve through which the compressed ammonia is allowed to exand.

p Fig. 2 represents on a larger scale the pasteurizer F shown in Fig. 1, having an insulated external receptacle A, an internal cream receptacle F a revolving stirrer F F is a valve. F

i is a handle for actuating the stirrer F and I ter having the individual F is an outletfor the hot water which is introduced through the pipe F.

G represents a thin printed slab of butbutter pats Gr and depressions or creases G In Fig. 4 is represented an individual butter pat which has been divided at the ereasesGr from the slab G.

.In Fig. 6 is represented a package offour separately enwrapped butter slabs enveloped in a paraflined protective carton H'having the folding flap -H and the side flaps H The lever butter printer I, has the lever P, the press block I and the print block G from which the thinslabs receive their imprint.

-- form suitable for use by J is an insulated butter carrier having the insulating air spaces J I wish to emphasize in particular, my method of forming the butter into thin slabs and imprintingthem in such manner that each slab is formed and partly divided into a plurality of pieces or patties of a size and the individual at table, and then enwrapping each thin slab protectively, so that the butter when purchased for consumption need not be opened to the atmosphere nor touched by any implement until immediately prior to the consumption of the butter at table. In the ordinary method of forming butter in prints, and enwrapping the same, butter is divided into larger prints, weighing not less than oneha lf pound each, in which case, the entire print is either placed on the table and each individual removes a portion of butter from the unitary print, or else the butter is formed into some special form of but-ter ,patty, and in either case the butter becomes atmospherically infected with germs; and if asis usually the case, portions ofv the originalprints are unconsumed, rapid deterioration of the unconsumed portions ensues.

My method of subdivision is an improvement on older methods in that much deterioration is largely prevented, whether the butter is subjected to intensely low refrigeration or not. But I lay stress on the value of immediate low refrigeration of the butter after it is made to or so near to a temperature, such as between zero andsix degrees F., that proliferation of bacteria in the butter is substantially prevented. If the butter is stored in bulk before it is formed into the specially described slabs, it is kept at the stated low temperature, and is again intensely refrigerated after being formed into the thin slabs and the enwrapping of the slabs. If the butter finds a' market and quick consumption near at hand, the refrigeration of the butter before and after the peculiar packing I practice, need not be so intense.

of sub-dividing the thin slabs .will be butter will be more completely and quickly usual size prints into size, or if the butter were cooled in larger masses by the usual icing process. When the butter is to be stored for a considerable time,

In sueh instances the. cooling of the butter quickly as possible after 1t 1s churned, the value of my methodv obvious, as in that case thechilled than if the prints were of the usual ate refrigeration of the pasteurizedbutter,

to form on the butter mass and penetrate inwardly, in-

from the from the atmosphere during'the packing of the butter.

handling milk, cream and butter in -the manner thus described, butter can be teriorating,

deterioration in the cream, churning be the time required to entire mass, and even a cooling the butter sufliciently, means some the quality of the butter. very. finest quality of deliver to the consumer, it is desirable to form it into the thin slabs, and chill the slabs quickly to a very low temperature, after which the slabs can be wrapped Hence, to secure the the butter to singly and then placed liminary to the final packing for shipment p When car loads of butter are to be shipped to market during the merely deep refrigeration of in insulated cases.

cooler Weather,

the butter at the butter needed to prevent objectionable heating of the butter while in transit.

My method is of value even in case of pasteurized butter Where germs exist in molds are likely fection occurring butter package or made, *c'onveyed and sumers in a practically dition, retaining all the of the freshly churned product.

The herein described product is the subject of a separate application filed March 16, ,1912, Serial No. 684,174.

; What I claimas-new 1. The method of butter herein described frigerating butter down much below the freezing point of water as to prevent deteriorating and maintaining said low temperathe butter from the time of making up to the time immediately prior ,to the consumption .of the butter.

making and preserving butter herein described which consists butter, ture in the butter 2. The method of frigerating cream prior temperature to form the freezin and which further ter,

butter before its the the center of the pasteurized butter mass; for in my experimentation have found that without deep and 1mmed1- making and preserving which consists 1n, re-

cream to a sufficient de prevent undesirable fermentation 1n the to the formation of butter from the cream at a suitable butter and immediately after the churning refrigerating the -butterproduced to a temperature so g fpoint of water as to prevent deermentative changes in the but.-'

delivery to the conthickness of the butter patty usually served at table to the individual consumer, and en- 'wrapping each thin slab in protective paper to prevent atmospheric and other infection of the butter.

3. The method of making and preserving butter herein described which consists in, subjecting cream and the butter made from the cream, to a temperature both before and after the butter is churned, sufficiently low to prevent undesirable fermentation inthe butter, forming and printing the butter into thin slabs of partly divided individual butter patty prints, enwrapping each slab in rotective paper, enwrapping a plurality of individual enwrapped slabs in one protective carton, and shipping a plurality of the enwrapped butter packages to market in an insulated shipping case.

4. The method of making and preserving butter herein described which consists in, making butter, immediately refrigerating the butter after its making and before obvious fermentation in the butter has occurred and before its shipment from the place of its making, to a selected temperature at least as low as will prevent fermentation in the butter, and holding the butter at'the selected temperature until the consumption of the butter by the consumer is immediately assured.

5. The method of making and preserving butter herein described which consists in, refrigerating cream at the place of its production, conveying the cream in refrigerated condition to a place for its manufacture into butter, warming the cream to a suitable temperature to form butter and making butter from the cream, refrigerating the butter immediately after its making to a temperature sufliciently low to prevent fermentation in the butter, and holding the butter in refrigeration until its consumption is immediately'assured.

6. The method of making and preserving 110 butter herein described which consists in, cooling cream, pasteurizingthe cream, making butter from the pasteurized cream, immediately refrigerating the pasteurized 4 product after its making into butter to a 115 temperature very much elow the freezing point of water, and maintaining the refrigerated product at such a temperature as to prevent fermentation in the butter or bacterial growths on its surface.

7 The method of making and preserving butter herein described which consists in, refrigerating atfluid" to a temperature many degrees lower than the freezing point of Water,'subjecting butter to the influezgifimi the refrigerating fluid imn'iediately aft ,making of the butter, forming the butterinto thin slabs creased and printed to form individual butter patties, subjecting the slabs to the chilling influence of the refrig- 1 kages, for the completely chill the few hours delay in in the cartons prefactory is all that is presumably no live the surface of surface of the distributed to conundeteriorated con; flavor and fragrance to a temperature so fermentation in the in, regree to much below conslsts in forming.

' butter herein described erated fluid, enwrapping each slab with ro- .to substantially brin fermentation in the butter to a standstil, forming the butter into packages for shipping the butter to market, again refrigerating the butter to a temperature so low as to prevent the heating of the butter from atmospheric conditions to an active fermenting temperature during the transit of the butter to market.

9. The method of making and preserving which consists in, making butter, forming the butter into prints, refrigerating the prints to a temperature many degrees lower thanthe freezing point of water, wrapping each print in protective pa er, packlng a plurality of the enwrappe prints in one protective carton, and shipping the enwrapped and carton protected butter to market in an insulated packing case.

:5 10. The method of making and preserving butter herein described which consists in, subjectin butter at the place of its manufacture, lmmediately after its production and prior to its shipment to market, to a mechanical refrigeration sufliciently intense to substantially entirely prevent deteriorating fermentation in the butter and such heating of the" butter during its shipment as would allow of deterioratingfermentation in the butter during its carriage to market.

11. The method of making and preserving butter herein described which consists in, making butter under temperature influences developing desired flavors in the butter, im-

mediately refrigerating the butter after its making to a temperature sufliciently cold to prevent deteriorating fermentation in the butter while the butter is held at such cold temperature, forming the butter into thin slabs, wrapping the thin'slabs in protective coverings for excluding infecting germs and for preventing loss of moisture in the butter, wrapping a plurality of enwrapped slabs in one rotective carton, and again subjecting the utter to an intense degree of refrigeration sufficiently below the freezing point of water to prevent deteriorating fermentation in the utter during the translt of the butter to the consumer and prior to the consumption of the butter, the coldness of the temperature to which the butter is refrigerated being determined by the distance from the consumer and the time required to convey the butter to the consumer, and insulating the butter a alnst absorptionof heat during the trave of the butter to market.

JOSEPH MOSES WARD KITCHEN.

Witnesses:

Geo. L. WrmELocK, NATHAN EPSTEIN. 

